By Joel Dresang
Another strange text flashed on my phone: “The Toll Roads Notice of Toll Evasion” it began.
The first couple of lines were about records showing that my vehicle had violated toll payment regulations… And that’s as much as I took in before I deleted the message as junk. That’s because I had read recently that scam artists were trying to trick people into believing they’re responsible for unpaid tolls, hoping to get money and banking information.
I’m sharing this as a reminder to pay attention to fraud alerts: Forewarned is forearmed.
And, because new rip-offs are popping up every day, look askance at any communication you get – especially if you didn’t initiate it.
Learn more
Got a text about unpaid tolls? It’s probably a scam
from the Federal Trade Commission
Avoid the Temptation of Smishing Scams
from the Federal Trade Commission
How to Recognize and Report Spam Text Messages
from the Federal Trade Commission
Senior targets
Older Americans in particular need to be vigilant, as the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College recently reported.
A combination of social isolation, unfamiliarity with technology and cognitive decline makes seniors more vulnerable to scamsters, the center reported. Victims older than 70 suffer losses three times greater than younger adults.
Citing data from the TIAA Institute and the FBI, the center said that in 2023 the average loss to fraud for someone over age 60 was $34,000 – up from $9,175 at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The danger at this age is that a successful scam can threaten financial security just as people are getting close to retirement age or have already retired and are living on a tight budget,” the report said. And of course, once swindled, retirees have a harder time covering losses than those who are still working.
What to do
The tollway text I got is what’s known as “smishing.” It’s like phishing, which uses email to con people into divulging personal financial information. The text version is called smishing for SMS, short message service.
The Federal Trade Commission has advice to avoid smash smishing, including:
- Never click links or reply to text messages or call numbers you don’t recognize.
- Do not respond. Even if the message tells you “text STOP” to end messages.
- Delete all suspicious and unwanted texts.
- While deleting, use your phone’s “report junk” option to report unwanted texts to your messaging application.
Joel Dresang is vice president-communications at Landaas & Company, LLC.
(Heads Up is an occasional feature by Landaas & Company investments to alert consumers to ways in which crooks are trying to separate them from their money.)